Grilled Pizza With Figs, Balsamic Onions, and Gorgonzola

Difficulty:
Easy

Who doesn’t love good homemade pizza – but making dough from scratch can be a test in patience. One of the best inventions to hit mainstream grocery stores is a ball of fresh pizza dough, usually found in the refrigerated section. Lately, I’ve tried to have these on hand for pizza emergencies. This makes it possible to have homemade pizza on the table in 30 minutes flat.

In this recipe, thin pizza crust is grilled for extra flavor – either on a grill, such as a Delta Heat Grill or on a grill pan on the stove. It’s surprisingly easy and quick! Once both sides are grilled, the crust is topped with gorgonzola and mozzarella, fresh figs, caramelized balsamic onions, and placed into a hot oven, or back on the grill (on a pan) to finish.

The end of summer brings figs to our neck of the woods. They are incredibly beautiful – their color, their shape, their surprising tenderness with skin as soft as lips. When we can get them, we serve them at weddings on our cheese and charcuterie boards, simply drizzled with honey, a sensuous little offering.

During the spring months, sautéed mushrooms would make a good substitution for the figs. This Grilled Pizza with fresh figs, balsamic onions, and gorgonzola cheese, topped with fresh arugula, is one of my favorite combinations. The figs benefit from the sweetness of the balsamic onions and the saltiness of the cheese. When it comes out of the oven, deliciously melty and warm, place it on a wood board, sprinkle with arugula, and cut and serve!

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 F or set Grill to high heat
2. Let dough rest on a floured surface 20 minutes.
3. In a large skillet, saute onion in oil, over medium high heat, stirring frequently 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium, add a pinch salt. Continue sautéing 10 minutes or so until onions begin to caramelized and become soft. Add balsamic, sugar and pepper. Continue to cook about 3-4 more minutes, until balsamic reduces. Set aside.
4. Divide dough and stretch into 2 or 4 very thin ovals or rounds.
5. If grilling, place directly onto the hot grate, and grill 2 to 3 minutes ( until you develop nice grill marks) and flip and grill other side. Set aside and repeat, or if grill is large enough feel free to do more than one at a time.
6. Rub each crust with smashed garlic, divide and sprinkle the cheeses, top with figs and onions and either place in a hot oven to finish or return to the grill, placing on top of a sheet pan.
7. Notes: Alternatively, you can bake the pizza in the oven on a sheet pan or hot pizza stone, topping the raw dough with cheeses and figs, then placing in the oven. Bake until the pizzas are cooked through, about 9-11 minutes, remembering that the thinner the crust, the faster they will cook.
8. Pull out from the oven top, place on a wood board, sprinkle with arugula, cut and serve immediately.

– Source: Feasting at Home